Minutes before her abduction on March 31, American journalist Shiley Kitelson was having lunch at a popular restaurant in the Karrada district.
The restaurant, located on a small street and known as “Abu Ahmed Restaurant,” serves traditional Iraqi dishes.
A day earlier, Kitelson had been at the same place, according to two journalists who saw her on two consecutive days and spoke to Alhurra.
The restaurant is in a crowded area. Kitelson used to go there to buy food and had been seen there many times by journalists.
The location is about two and a half kilometers from her residence.
After passing Kahramana and Firdos squares in the Karrada area, while heading toward her residence at a hotel on Al-Za’eem Street in the Saadoun district, she was abducted.
Her kidnapping came as a “shock” to many of her colleagues. Not only that, it created a state of fear and concern among journalists, activists, and human rights defenders over the possibility of a return to the targeting they had faced in the past.
Iraqi authorities launched an urgent investigation into the incident. At the moment of the abduction, they pursued the vehicle used in the kidnapping.
They arrested the driver of the vehicle, a “Chrysler” known in Iraq as “Obama.” Yes, Iraqis refer to this car by the name of former U.S. President Barack Obama.
Authorities reviewed surveillance cameras and saw that the vehicle quickly entered the Yusufiyah expressway (a road linking Baghdad to the southern provinces).
“When our forces arrested the driver after chasing the car and after it crashed, we did not find Kitelson inside,” said a security source in the Iraqi Joint Operations Command.
He added to Alhurra: “A vehicle swap took place after her abduction.”
According to information from two Iraqi intelligence sources who spoke to Alhurra, Kitelson was transferred to Babil province, specifically to the Jurf al-Nasr subdistrict (formerly Jurf al-Sakhar).
This area is controlled by the “Kataib Hezbollah” movement, and reports say it is “a military zone containing workshops for manufacturing and developing drones.”
That same night, authorities began interrogating the driver, but he did not confess. The driver himself belonged to the “Kataib Hezbollah” movement.
The following day, during further questioning, he also did not provide clear confessions, according to the source in the Joint Operations Command.
The Joint Operations Command is the highest body responsible for coordinating military and security operations among the army, police, Popular Mobilization Forces, and intelligence agencies across Iraq.
According to a Shiite politician who previously held government positions, “Kataib Hezbollah” began negotiating with Iraqi authorities over Kitelson’s release.
The politician told Alhurra: “The group wants the release of four of its members who recently fired rockets at Syria and were arrested by Iraqi authorities, in exchange for releasing Kitelson.”
Alhurra was unable to independently verify this information with other sources.
On March 25, Iraqi authorities announced the arrest of four individuals who had fired rockets at the Hasakah base in Syria from Nineveh province.
In recent weeks, Kitelson had been under protection from Iraqi authorities.
When she remained in Iraq and did not leave despite repeated warnings from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad about the “danger” posed by Iran-backed factions to American citizens, Iraqi authorities assigned two security personnel to protect her.
The two officers assigned to protect her, who belong to a very high-level security agency, are now in detention, according to a senior security source who spoke to Alhurra.
Investigations are currently being conducted by the Iraqi National Intelligence Service with the two officers. Information obtained by Alhurra indicates that agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are in contact with Iraqi intelligence regarding Kitelson.
Two days before her abduction, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad warned of “attempts” by Iran-backed factions to carry out “kidnappings” of American citizens.
Alhurra contacted the American website “Al-Monitor,” as it was the first media organization to advocate for Kitelson and call for her release, given that she is one of its contributors.
Editor-in-Chief Joyce Karam told Alhurra: “We do not have confirmed information about the identity of Shiley’s kidnappers, and we are not in contact with Iraqi authorities. Shiley was not on assignment for Al-Monitor during this trip.”
Ziad al-Ajeeli, head of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory based in Baghdad, told Alhurra: “It is clear that there are groups that want to eliminate the role of the state and act as an alternative to it at this stage. They behave like gangs, not like responsible entities.”
Al-Ajeeli, who covered battles against ISIS alongside Kitelson, added: “Fundamentally, these are not even the actions of organized armed factions.”
According to an Iraqi government official, Kitelson had been advised to leave Iraq days earlier due to increasing risks.
The official told Alhurra that authorities urged her to leave. “Even the U.S. Embassy advised her to depart, but she stayed. Therefore, authorities had to assign two personnel to secure her. But that was not enough,” the Iraqi official stressed.
Kitelson’s last article was published on March 26, 2026, in the Italian newspaper “Il Foglio,” about attacks targeting the Kurdistan Region of Iraq by Iran-backed factions.
Iraqi writer and journalist Ahmed al-Sheikh Majid told Alhurra: “The kidnapping indicates that no one is safe anymore—journalists, employees, and even official security agencies.”
The article is a translation of the original Arabic.
Mustafa Saadoon
Mustafa Saadoon is an Iraqi journalist who has worked for several international and Arab media organizations. He covers politics and human rights.
